Agenda 2019

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/14/mp-stands-to-make-15m-from-kurdistan-oil-company-sale MP stands to make £1.5m from Kurdistan oil company sale Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi, will receive a payout of nearly £1.5m if the sale completes of the Kurdistan-based oil company for which he has worked since July 2015. He has been the Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010. Zahawi apologised for claiming expenses for electricity to his stables and a mobile home. Is anyone really surprised that another conservative millionaire MP, who claimed for 2012/13 a total of £170,234 in expenses, and in November 2013 "apologised unreserv edly" after claiming £5,822 expenses for electricity for his horse riding school stables and a yard manager's mobile home, and has a very checkered record of voting to cap welfare payments to families and cut benefit payments generally, should now be in line to pocket another £1.5 million from an overseas investment. ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/eu-referendum-baroness-sayeeda-warsi-defects-from-leave-to-remain-a7090741.html Sayeeda Warsi "defects" from Leave to Remain Before everyone gets too carried away with euphoric praise for Sayeeda Warsi and her "principled stand" and change of camps in the EU referendum campaign, we should recall some of the other"issues" that she has been involved with during her chequered and colourful career. Roger Helmer defection In March 2012, Warsi was criticised by a number of Conservative MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee for her handling of MEP Roger Helmer's defection to UKIP. Financial declarations In May 2012, Warsi apologised for failing to declare rental income in the Lords' Register of Interests. Parliamentary expenses inquiry May 2012, criticisms of her claims for parliamentary expenses were reported. The Labour Opposition urged a full police investigation into her expenses Breach of...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/andy-burnham-claims-rent-for-flat-moments-away-from-another-he-already-owns-10273311.html Andy Burnham claims £17,000 a year in rent for London flat – despite owning another that's walking distance from Westminster Andy Burnham. Nose in the trough along with all the other career politicians.  Andy Burnham has been claiming more than £17,000 a year in expenses to rent a flat in London despite owning another property a short walk from Westminster. Another of the "Westminster establishment" demonstrating how to milk the bottomless pit of tax payers(our)money with expense claims. This one even wants to become the leader of one of the parties, with the potential to become the Prime Minister. The career politicians of Westminster again show themselves to be no more than self serving opportunists, more interested in position, perks and personal kudos than ideals and principle. Interesting to note that Prescot...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ed-miliband-vows-towield-the-axe-on-public-services-9916560.html Ed Miliband vows to wield the axe on public services to balance books Ed Miliband will cut the budgets of most Whitehall departments A statement of intent, indicating how far away from its traditional supporters and its traditional principles the Labour party has drifted. Miliband seeks to grab power in the "centre ground" as did Blair, and to hell with the ordinary people who historically have relied on the Labour Party and the trade Union movement to provide some alternative and redress from the excesses of Conservative policies and the exploitation by businesses and business interests in this country. The "Centre ground" is populated by Tories, Liberal Democrats, business interests and others, seeking only to perpetuate their own existence by persuading everyone that they are the only ones offering a solution to a problem ...

http://order-order.com/2014/08/11/173000-simmonds-quits-saying-expenses-are-too-low/ Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds quits his post because expenses are too low. Mark Simmonds MP with wife Lizibeth  An incredible whinge from a man who finds it difficult to exist on a salary of £137,500 per year, plus expenses for wife, 2nd home in London, subsidised food and drink in the Commons, secretarial and office equipment expenses and anything else he can add to his expenses claim form. At least that is one nose out of the trough as he is standing down. The bad news is that another nose will replace him. Simmonds claimed:   £137,426.92  payroll £13,005.38  office costs   £5,910.00  staffing expenses   £25,000  employing his wife Lizbeth as his office manager (with acknowledgement to Guido Fawkes' Blog)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lord-hanningfield-claims-fiddle-expenses-3489778 Lord Hanningfield claims he had to fiddle expenses to look after his CHICKENS    Chicken enthusiast: Lord Hanningfield   Hanningfield, a former Tory frontbencher, was sentenced to nine months’ jail in 2011 over the last expenses scandal after being found guilty of falsely claiming for overnight stays in London. But he was out in less than three months and returned to the Lords the following year after repaying £30,000. "kicked out of Parliament for a year and forced to repay the money " If we actually put these thieves in prison for a while, it may deter other MP's and Peers stealing money from the taxpayers of this country. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-inquiry-into-tory-conference-gaysex-party-paid-on-expenses-9255489.html Inquiry into Tory conference ‘gay-sex party paid on expenses’    Trust is damaged     Almost on a weekly basis, some allegation or other comes to light of expenses abuse by MP's This week, the allegation, now being investigated is that the taxpayer indirectly funded a hotel suite that was used for a gay-sex party. It seems that an organisation called the Policy Research Unit (PRU), which is overseen by senior Conservative figures, booked a suite of rooms costing up to £2,500 per night at Manchester’s Light ApartHotel, during a Conservative Party conference.It would appear that Conservative MP's pay nearly £4,000 a year to the PRU which they claim back through the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). This latest "revelation" come in the same week as Culture Secretary Maria Miller, was forced to resign from the go...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/08/ed-balls-nick-clegg_n_4561996.html?utm_hp_ref=uk   Ed Balls Says He Could Join Coalition With Nick Clegg   Balls and Clegg    Another reason why politics in this country and its politicians, are loathed and despised. The prostitution of principle  (if they have any) for the acquisition of power, no matter how corrupt or contaminated such power may be. The people of the country are sacrificed on the altar of the ego's and personal ambitions of shameless and self serving men (and women) more interested in their positions, salaries and expense accounts and other perks rather than working people, the sick, the disabled, the unemployed and the excesses of businesses, banks and privatised industries. The cynicism and hypocrisy of this arrogant posturing was a contributory factor in my decision to leave the labour Party some years ago. The "power at any cost" philosophy which was becoming the o...

  The “Huffington Post censors (or “moderators”, I am never sure which is the correct title), are a strange crowd, where consistency has little if any meaning in the decision to publish or not to publish,. For example, yesterday (Sunday 15th December 2013) a story appeared in the press, including the Huffington Post, concerning a rather nasty little man, who currently is Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon. The story appeared under the headline of “Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi Calls For 'Two Child Limit' On Benefits”. Having written about Mr Zahawi on previous occasions, particularly about his unsavoury MP's expenses claims for heating costs and other business activities, I put together another posting under the heading of, “Nadhim Zahawi: Competing to be the nastiest of the nasties.” for publication on this blog and in the comments sections of other publications. In the Huffington Post, comments are restricted in terms of the number of words allowable...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/15/two-child-limit-benefits_n_4446773.html?utm_hp_ref=uk   Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi would limit child benefit and tax credits to families' first two children. Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi   Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi would limit child benefit and tax credits to a families first two children. Another of  the "Nasty party's" nasties to crawl out of the woodwork with proposals to save money for the tax payer. Zahawi, a member of David Cameron's policy board, rationalises his proposition with the notion that, "Capping welfare by family size would save billions and help the next generation think more carefully about their relationship with the welfare state". Politicians are renowned for their ability to have selective memory lapses when it comes to their own acts or omissions, but Zahawi takes first prize for patronising contempt, when he adds that  "they can no longer assume the taxpayer has a bottomless purse...

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/08/mps-pay-rise-embarrass-party-leaders  MPs are to get an inflation-busting 11% pay rise   MPs will be paid an annual salary of £74,000 from 2015   An 11% pay rise for MP's. In these times of austerity, and following George Osborne's "Autumn Statement" last week, it is beyond belief that our elected representatives can receive a pay increase of £7,600.00 (or 11%) while the vast majority of people in the country see their incomes fall in real terms with salaries frozen or at best limited to a 1% increase for another year. Before anyone (if such people actually exists in these times), leaps to the defence of our "Honourable members" with the feeble argument that the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, is independent and  MP's have no say in the decision to award this extra salary, these supporters of our "hard working" poorly paid representatives, should consider a few simple f...

A friend sent this to my e-mail inbox this morning and I thought that I would share it. "Thought you might find this interesting.  Can you imagine working for a corporate company that only has a little more than 635 employees, but has the following Employee statistics? 29 have been accused of spouse abuse, 7 have been arrested for fraud, 9 have been accused of writing bad cheques, 17 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses, 3 have done time for assault, 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit, 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges, 8 have been arrested for shoplifting, 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits, 84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year, And collectively, this year alone, they have cost the British tax payer £92,993,748 in expenses! Which organisation is this? Of course; it's the 635 members of the House of Commons. The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to ke...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/facebook-democracy-the-face-of-things-to-come-8967976.html   Facebook democracy: the face of things to come? Speaker John Bercow   The "Speaker" has lost the plot. There are millions of people in this country who for one reason or another, do not use "Facebook", or do not own a computer or do not have internet access. Bercow should spend less time day dreaming and more time trying to find new ways of justifying his defence of the secrecy surrounding  the extortionate MP's expenses claims and the justification of their increases in pay and pension provisions.

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-cameron-insists-that-squeeze-on-publicsector-spending-is-permanent-8933539.html David Cameron insists that squeeze on public-sector spending is permanent David Cameron at Lord Mayor's Banquet on Monday night.   Someone asked me recently, if I had noticed how Cameron, Osborne, Hunt and a number of other "senior" Tories, seem to be putting on a great deal of weight. This may well have something to do with the amount of receptions, working lunches, conferences (mostly overseas it seems), State banquets and numerous other jollies which these people attend, with monotonous regularity almost on a weekly basis and, over this year certainly, the number of functions has grown significantly. The annual Lord Mayor’s Banquet. provided the latest bash and gave Cameron a platform for delivering a speech to tell the rest of us how bad things were (but were getting better) and that "austerity" must, would,...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/02/mps-energy-expenses_n_4206018.html?utm_hp_ref=uk 340 MPs get their energy bills paid on expenses Nadhim Zahawi with David Cameron   Since October of 2012, I have been posting comments on this Blog critical of MP's and their outrageous expenses claims, under headings such as "Mp's expenses. They are still at it." (18th October 2012) "MPs complain dinner expenses are not generous enough" (4th April 2013) "MP's have little or no shame" (8th May 2013) and various other postings of a similar nature. It is now clearly evident, that the public outrage and criticism of our elected representatives, initially brought about by the expenses scandal revelations of 2009, has had little effect in curbing the activities of these avaricious individuals who seem to have little, if any integrity. In these times when many people are facing stark choices in respect of heating or eating, when almost one ...

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rising-star-of-labour-and-betting-shop-critic-chuka-umunna-faces-embarrassment-after-accepting-20000-gift-from-gambling-executive-8748755.html Chuka Umunna faces embarrassment after accepting £20,000 gift from gambling executive Chuka Umunna A sad old party with few ideas and even less vision, demonstrating that even its "rising star" is little more than a clone of the discredited bunch of sleaze ridden politicians, loitering in the shadows of the House of Commons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/05/labour-unite-falkirk-police_n_3549835.html?utm_hp_ref=uk Labour Row With Unite Union Escalates   Enough of this pantomime between Miliband and McCluskey. The whole subject has descended into farce and both are to blame. It is time for Miliband to remember where the roots of the Labour party actually are and for McCluskey to understand that Unite is not his own personal vehicle for promoting himself. Over recent years, certainly since the time of Blair, the Labour party has deteriorated significantly both in terms of performance and programmes. We now have the obscene spectacle of Labour voting with the Tories or abstaining on votes of major effect on working people and their families, the sick and disabled, and on claimant generally. It is time for the remaining cords to be cut. The TUC have for many years, tried to breathe life into the corpse of the political party they formed so many years ago. From the ...

  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/05/ipsa-mp-pay-rise_n_3549461.html?utm_hp_ref=uk     Give MPs A Pay Rise, Or There'll Be Another Expenses Scandal, Says IPSA      This comment from IPSA is a damming indictment of MP's generally. Had the thieving members who embezzled public money by fiddling their expense claims been dealt with properly at the time, we might now have a house of commons which has some credibility with the people of this country, rather than a bunch of self serving hypocrites who are held in contempt by almost everybody. Saying "sorry" and handing back a few pounds here and there, was nothing more than a gesture in response to their crimes being exposed. Those MP's found with their fingers in the till should have been suspended from the House of Commons, charged with theft and misconduct in public office, and if found guilty, given suitable sentences and a criminal record. This would certainly ha...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/mps-expenses-rebuilding-politic/10049876/Employment-minister-Mark-Hoban-keeps-most-of-six-figure-profit-on-his-taxpayer-funded-second-home.html This parasite of an MP has made a profit of £132,668 from buying and selling a second home property which had been funded in part through the MPs' expenses system    Mark Hoban.Minister of State for Work and Pensions and MP for Fareham  The  Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which regulates MPs’ expenses, only asked him to repay £11,332of the £144,000 profit he made on the sale of the flat for £393,000 in November last year. Our money going straight into the pocket of an over paid, expense claiming, freeloader.

                         http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/05/07/mps-demand-cheaper-alcoho_n_3228805.html?utm_hp_ref=uk    MPs Demand Cheaper Alcohol In Commons Bars   Hard on the heels of, "MP's complain dinner expenses are not enough" (as reported on 4th April 2013), comes this latest example of what has become an outrageous and patronising insult to the people of this country. By calling for cheaper alcohol prices in the Commons' bars and restaurants (already subsidised by £5.8 million of taxpayer's money), these "Honorable members" demonstrate a complete lack of empathy with a society where austerity rules and almost one million people rely on foodbanks to feed their families. Not satisfied with fiddling  expenses to augment their already extortionate salaries, they seek to inflate their daily food allowance and now pay even less for their wines, beer and spirit...